A/N: Thank you for sticking with this story up to this point, and sorry the update is so late. Things have been crazy busy for me, and I've been feeling very unmotivated lately. This chapter is titled in honor of a one-shot I wrote ironically to celebrate a month of consistently updating this story, lol. Anyways, it was so fun to write that I've decided to continue it once my motivation returns. Probably only two or three more segments, though. If you like Adrinette fluff, be sure to check it out!

Anywho, please enjoy!

Questions

Shadow hadn't meant to get involved. In fact, his only intention had been to watch from afar. He'd been out getting used to his new abilities and the freedom they afforded when he'd heard screams from somewhere nearby. A dark tailed figure jumped from one building to the next over the alley he'd been skulking through, and his curiosity spurred him to follow. He wanted to see how Paris' heroes did what they did. A niggling thought at the back of his head also wondered just what sort of relationship the two shared. Then there was that strange look Cat Noir had given him...

From the concealment of the afternoon shadows, he set himself up on a nearby rooftop and watched Cat Noir land next to Ladybug. Despite the heightened senses that came with his transformation, their conversation didn't quite reach his ears, so he just watched as they chatted then vaulted to the rooftop of the mayor's hotel to confront the woman Shadow assumed must be an akuma.

Then Ladybug fell.

Before he even realized what he was doing, Shadow had scooped the heroine from the air with a speed he didn't even know he possessed.

So much for his plan to just sit back and watch.

Shaking away the thoughts swirling within his mind, Shadow darted through the lengthening shade of the Parisian cityscape. An impressive gated building came into view, and once over the gate, he leapt through an open window and landed inside his room without making a sound. "Shadows retract." As the words left his mouth, the shadows swirled around his body. The inky black receded, drawn to his right hand, and disappeared within the depths of the amethyst stones embedded in his ring. The gems gleamed, and with a surge of energy, a ball of condensed shadow emerged and immediately fell into Felix's outstretched hand.

The first time he'd dropped his transformation took him a while to figure out. Shade never told him how to go back to normal, so he'd spent most of the night as Shadow. It didn't bother him too much, though. There was something liberating about being able to move through the shadows without restriction or worry.

Two slits parted on the shadowy shape's face, revealing a brilliant violet glow. "Thanks for catching me this time," Shade mumbled.

"If you'd warned me, I might have caught you last time, too," Felix replied gruffly. He let out a soft huff and nodded toward a covered dish on his desk. "Cheese. I had the chef prepare something special before our walk about."

Shade's ears pricked up, and his eyes rounded. "Something special...?" A tiny tendril of drool formed at the corner of his mouth.

Felix shrugged one shoulder and looked at his bookshelf absently. "After how tired you were last night, I figured you deserved it." The corner of his lip quirked up in a small smirk. "You finally made yourself useful, after all." He lifted the lid from the plate and placed Shade in the center of nearly a dozen different varieties of cheese.

"Heaven!" Shade spun in a circle, surveying the cheeses with his mouth agape. "This must be what heaven is like!"

As Shade dove into the cheeses, sampling each type one at a time, his companion sat at the desk and watched, quite pleased with the little creature's enthusiastic response, though he'd never admit it. "Have you remembered anything else?"

Shade stopped, a gooey pawful of cheese halfway to his mouth. "It's been one day." He gave Felix an exasperated look. "It took me nearly half a year to remember what I did."

"Right..." Felix put a finger to his chin and pondered for a moment. "Well, I don't think you're an akuma."

"An a-what-a?"

"An akuma. It's what Ladybug and Cat Noir fight, some sort of evil purple butterfly tha-"

A loud snort cut him off. "Wait, wait," Shade said, trying to keep a straight face. "So, you're telling me that this Ladybug, the girl you have a crush on, goes around the city in red spandex fighting purple butterflies with a yoyo?!" The little creature doubled over with laughter.

Felix scowled at the shadowy being, and his cheeks reddened. "It's more complicated than that!" He waited for Shade's laughter to die down to quiet sniggers before continuing, "They change people, control them somehow."

A mirthful smirk was plastered across Shade's face. "Ok, if you say so, but I can't help but notice you didn't deny the crush."

Felix let out a long suffering sigh. "Shade, focus!" He shook his head and massaged his brow with his fingers in an attempt to ward off the oncoming headache. "Like I was saying, I don't think you're an akuma."

"Are you sure?" Shade cackled, and the shadows pooled behind him, taking the form of a black butterfly. Its shadowy wings flapped once before dissolving back into the darkness.

Blue-gray eyes blinked slowly, thoroughly unamused. "So, anyways," Felix continued his train of thought, completely ignoring the show and Shade's pout, "if you aren't, just what are you? Do Ladybug and Cat Noir transform in the same way? Maybe they have something like you, too." His brow furrowed. "Does that mean I'm like them?"

"Kid, I don't even know what I am. How am I supposed to know what you are?" Shade deadpanned.

Felix grimaced. "True. I suppose I'll have to ask them."

Shade shrugged and shoved the gooey bite of cheese into his mouth. His eyes widened, and he spit the mouthful out onto the platter. "Blech!"

"What are you doing?" Felix asked in disgust.

Shade's face contorted into a look of revulsion. "Apparently, I don't like Camembert."

In Marinette's room, Tikki perched on the edge of the desk and nibbled at her cookie. Something was off. Her brow furrowed, and she pursed her lips in a thoughtful frown. "Did something happen with the akuma today?"

Marinette sat on the rolling chair in front of the spotted kwami and nodded. "Tikki, I think we met another miraculous holder today," she said, though her voice was thick with apprehension.

Tikki's eyes widened, and she set her cookie to one side to give her chosen her full attention. "You did?" she squeaked. "Are you sure it was a miraculous holder, though?"

Marinette shook her head. "No, I'm not. I mean, how am I supposed to tell?"

"The Guardian would know."

"Master Fu?"

Tikki nodded. "I can't put my finger on it, but something seems... strange," she said pensively. "You should go ask the Guardian about this supposed miraculous holder."

"I'm sure it's ok, Tikki," Marinette brushed off her companion's concern airily. "He didn't act like an akuma. He even saved me! And Cat Noir and I are going to question him a little later tonight." The girl winced. "Besides, I wouldn't want to bother Master Fu with something like this. I'm sure he's busy with... ancient Chinese secrets or something."

Tikki giggled, a sound that reminded Marinette of tinkling bells. "Marinette! You're Ladybug! Of course he has time for you!"

The girl smiled sheepishly at her kwami friend. "I suppose you're right. Maybe I'll go see him tomorrow if I don't get any answers tonight."